Few Laws Control Fireworks Handlers

Despite calls for regulation, fireworks rockets can be imported and sold to just about anyone in Florida who has a federal license, which is easily obtained.

Moreover, state laws don't require organizations displaying fireworks to prove they know how to use the deadly rockets. Some states require certification of companies and people who display fireworks, but Florida does not.

''You could go into the fireworks display business tomorrow,'' said Buddy Dewar, director of the state fire marshal's office in Tallahassee.

That freedom troubles Dewar and other state officials who say the lack of regulation makes fireworks tragedies likely to happen. Dewar said the death of Edgewater Fire Chief George Kennedy, who died while lighting rockets July Fourth, is an example of a ''senseless'' death that could have been prevented. State officials point to three weaknesses in national and state fireworks regulations:

-- There is no quality control of fireworks manufacturers in the United States and no control of fireworks imported from other countries.

-- Federal regulations permit the purchase of sophisticated fireworks by almost anyone in states such as Florida.

-- Rules restricting the purchase of sophisticated fireworks, such as those used in Fourth of July celebrations, are erratic because every state and local government has different rules. Florida has no rules governing the sale or distribution of sophisticated fireworks, meaning anyone with a federal permit can buy explosives seen in large fireworks shows. People who run fireworks shows in Florida do not have to be certified pyrotechnics experts.

After Kennedy's death, attention has been focused on quality control. Investigators are assessing information gathered from Edgewater and from accidents in Madeira Beach, Safety Harbor, Pascagoula, Miss., and DeKalb County, Ga.

A 9-year-old girl was hospitalized in Georgia, while firefighters were hurt in Madeira Beach and Safety Harbor. Preliminary analyses show that the fireworks exploded in launching tubes instead of in the sky -- a problem caused by low quality, some experts say.

Fireworks for all those shows were supplied by Southern International Fireworks Inc. of South Carolina. Company officials and police are trying to find out where the fireworks came from, but Dewar said the investigation will not change a system without quality control.

''If you buy a TV set or a VCR, it's all gone through testing. Just about anything you buy has some kind of testing. That doesn't exist with fireworks. The state doesn't require quality control of any kind,'' Dewar said.

Fireworks distributors import rockets from many countries, making quality control difficult, said Skip Smith, executive secretary of the Fire Marshal's Association of North America in Washington, D.C. Fireworks are a cottage industry in many countries, which makes quality erratic, Smith said.

Only domestic manufacturers are regulated. The U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms has rules controlling how manufacturers store the explosives used in fireworks.

The bureau also regulates who may buy and sell fireworks, which it divides into two classes. Class C fireworksare unsophisticated fireworks, such as sparklers and bottle rockets. Florida law bans small fireworks, except for sparklers. Class B fireworks are more sophisticated. They use gunpowder and chemicals to create displays for July Fourth celebrations. Florida law does not cover these sophisticated fireworks.

To buy and sell Class B fireworks, a distributor must apply only for a federal license. The U.S. firearms bureau checks to see if applicants are older than 21, have insurance, and are not felons or fugitives, said Jerry Neal of the bureau's Tampa office. Municipalities do not need a license to put on a display.

Dewar, who has lobbied the Florida Legislature on behalf of fire marshals for stricter control of fireworks, said the bureau's licensing program doesn't check a person's expertise or competence with fireworks. Any 21-year-old without a criminal record and with $10 usually gets a license, Dewar said.

This past legislative session, bills calling for the state fire marshal's office to oversee licensing of fireworks distributors never made it to a vote. They were killed in committees after lobbying by the fireworks industry.

Other states have programs regulating sophisticated fireworks. In South Carolina a Board of Pyrotechnic Safety licenses distributors and the people who set off fireworks for big shows. The state also requires a $10 million insurance policy in addition to federal requirements, said Bill Porcel, director of the board.

''We've come to recognize that pyrotechnics is a dangerous business. It's more than sparklers and firecrackers. People can get hurt,'' Porcel said.